Our view: Resolutions can ensure a better community

Published 7:34 am, Tuesday, January 6, 2015

It’s resolution time. Even at the Reporter-Telegram there are resolutions we can make to ensure a better community.

So while we leave exercising or eating better for individual members of the community, here are some items we are hoping our community can accomplish in 2015.

-- Living with oil at a lower price. This newspaper has been vocal about getting ahead of the population surge, and we believe the community shouldn’t ignore that goal. We believe that in the long term, Midland still will be a destination for newcomers. This influx of people will require the city, county, school district and hospital district to continue to improve on their strategies, and if necessary, develop infrastructure to get Midland where it needs to be.

We believe the industry’s leaders would say it’s a mistake for government leaders to slam on the brakes today or even six months from now. They have said Midland should be thinking about its future in the long term. They have committed resources, including corporate facilities, for the long term and Midland should continue to take its cues from them.

Being the center of activities inside the Permian Basin comes with its plusses and minuses. This year might not replicate 2014 as it pertains to some economic indicators, including a 2.3 percent unemployment rate in November. We will see. But we believe in Midland for the long term and we will speak out against actions we see as government standing in the way of needed action.

-- Decide about the future of the 4B tax. Piggy-backing on the last comment, the community needs to determine the future of the tax that was created to build the Scharbauer Sports Complex. The complex could be paid off, and therefore, the quarter-cent addition to the sales tax could go off the books in 2016.

There are options. One is do nothing, and let Midlanders enjoy a sales tax of 8 percent. Another is let the residents of Midland vote on allowing a quarter-cent to be used for infrastructure and paying for maintenance, operations and improvements to the sports complex. A third one is finding other revenue sources for the complex and creating a 4B for infrastructure and some citywide park development.

We should never insist that a tax exists just because, and residents shouldn’t be told that a tax has to continue to pay the bill at the sports complex. We should be fair to the taxpayers of Midland and our city’s future.

-- Learning from what happened on Nov. 15, 2012. Our community deserves to hear what caused a train to hit a Show of Support parade float, killing four previously wounded veterans and injuring more than a dozen other people.

Some may say the lawsuit brought forward by the victims of those who suffered on that day could open new wounds. That is certainly a possibility. We believe there are city officials and Show of Support officials who need to explain their side of it and provide answers about why there was no city-approved parade permit, why no one called the train company about the parade and what planning went into the parade. That, in our view, will help bring closure.